Notes / Commercial Description:
Everett (1908-1939) was our grandfather’s brother; Hill Farmstead Brewery rests upon the land that was once home to him and his 13 siblings. In his honor, this Porter is crafted from American malted barley, English and German roasted malts, American hops, our ale yeast, and water from our well. It is unfiltered and naturally carbonated. Decadent in its depth, with a complex backbone of chocolate, coffee, and malty sweetness, this is the ale that I dream to have shared with Everett.

750 ML growler in trade, either day of or day after. Fresh either way. Poured into Lawson's tulip glass.

L: Beer pours completely dark with 2F light tan head with good retention, lots of lacing, and a cap and ring.

S: Roasty malt and barley goodness, giving off scents like coffee, unsweetened cocoa, and caramel. Tiny deduction for barely noticeable off-note that is mineral in character (likely the famous HF well water).

A: A rich, robust chocolate brown. A good pour yields a one finger head. As it fades, decent lacing and a fair collar follow.

S: Quite green, with a good bit of coffee injecting life into the nose.

T: Thin. Watery. Cardboard. These aren't qualities that I look for in a beer, let alone a Porter from Hill Farmstead. This isn't infected or off, it's just not up to snuff with a lot of the better Porters on the market. Extremely underwhelming.

M: It feels alright, I guess. The carbonation isn't where I feel it should be, as it's (yet again) a bit thin and not overly complex or rich in the mouth.

O: How anti-climactic. HF's Everett is one of the biggest letdowns I've come across in some time. The rest of the tasting group bought into the hype with this and rather enjoyed it. But me....nah. It's simply a Porter.

O- The keep it simple approach does work for the beer, and it is good. But I don't see this porter as mind blowing as the ratings are. It tasted pretty bland to me. I would have this again and my tastebuds could've been wrecked by this point in the day anyway.

Wowzers. Best porter I've ever tried. Look is great. Dark, dark brown, thick, nice head, like you expect. Smell and taste are both tons of chocolate, the typical porter roast, and not too much bitterness and coffee, etc. So chocolatey and smooth, unlike a lot of "top-end" porters that are really bitter or roasty, and basically just are made to try to stand out from popular stouts. Nice to find something that actually tastes damn good, rather than just trying to be the best of something no one else does (and therefore automatically the best...yawn). The mouthfeel was so thick and creamy, I didn't even think about it till now, it was just so perfect. Like a roasty mocha. And I get defensive about living 9 min away from Jack's Abby, with their standard-of-the-style Baltic Porter Framinghammer. But this was just awesome.

Honestly -- totally honest here -- this was the best HF beer I've had. And I believe I've had all their beers above 4 on BA multiple times, and many others, as well. The IPAs, in my opinion, are all (ALL) below many of Tree House's IPAs, and I live closer to them. So I will pass of the HF hoppy stuff most of the time (yes, I know I am extremely spoiled. I think about and appreciate that every day of my life :). But this is the best porter I've ever had, and the best HF beer I've had. I am re-committed to HF after this. In-freakin-credible.

Pours dark and thick, nice frothy head, does indeed look "robust" and I would guess a higher abv than 7.5% based on the appearance.

This beer is somewhat disappointing though...rich and sweet as you would expect, maybe some chocolate and vanilla, but it's too malty for me to really love. Needs either some more roast, some more hop character, or some more pronounced chocolate. Mouthfeel is thick and really nice, and overall this is a good and solid porter, but it was the weakest HF beer out of a lineup of ten and I really didn't think this was anything exceptional.

A - Dark brown-black body, opaque, with a full dark tan head. Fades quickly to thin coating head. Decent lacing, full and robust. All told, this is what I want my beer to look like.

S - A full, complex roast nose, with big chocolate and coffee elements, coupling with a strong molasses bread note. This just makes me want to go in for a drink.

T - Delivering on the nose, with an open of strong roasted malts, full of coffee and bread, leading to a middle with slightly more acidity and smoke and savory highlights, closing with a solid bitter finish that clears the flavors perfectly.

M - Full, with a nice weight on the tongue that indicates the beers presence, coupled with decent carbonation to keep the fullness from becoming cloying. No real drying on the close. Incredibly well balanced.

O - I have finally met a 5.0 beer. A beer that lines up perfectly with the expectations I have for a porter, and delivers both precise balance and nuanced flavor notes that make drinking both extraordinarily rewarding and a genuine pleasure. Brewers would do well to take note of the beauty, simplicity and depth this beer achieves. Illustration no. 1 that all beers do not have to take it to 11.

When the first person who ever brewed a "Porter" carried out to do just that, this is the beer they were trying to make. Dark, rich, smooth, deftly balanced roast malt sweetness and hop bitterness, smooth and drinkable. I would be surprised if I ever tasted a better version of the style.

Thanks to Pearpicker for this bottle!
Poured from a 500ml bottle (bottled 31Aug15) into a pint glass.
LOOK: Pours with a quarter finger's worth of cinnamon foam that shrivels into a khaki line after 5 seconds. Black in color with an orange tint. There are no visisble rising bubbles. Lacing is thin and very subtle.
SMELL: Has strong aromas of sweet chocolate and sugared coffee that entangle with mild aromas of bitter roasted malts and barley along with subtle vanilla and oak aromas.
TASTE: Strong flavors of sweet chocolate enter initially and are immediately followed by mild sugared coffee and bitter roasted malt flavors. Mild flavors of vanilla along with subtle oak flavors follow. Subtle barley flavors and hints of earthy hops (weren't detected in the aroma) finish off the symphony of flavors as all previous flavors persist except for bitter roated malts, which grow slightly stronger.
FEEL: Light-bodied and subtly carbonated. Goes down incredibly smooth and somewhat creamy (it's too thin to have the full creamy feeling). Ends with the slightest hint of dryness.
NOTE: I am not a fan of bitter at all, but this brew pulled it off incredibly well. With that being said, if the bitterness was toned down, this would taste even more spectacular than it already does.

I have never been as big a fan as hill farmstead as others. Granted I have only had about five of there beers. I have never been blown away by any of them. And a couple I have had I think are actually poor beers. The Everett however is a decent porter. There are definitely better porters out there, but this one does the trick. Nothing special at all.

Pours into an HF chalice, dark with a chocolate brown head. What you expect from a porter.

Smells charred and chocolately. Dark chocolate, especially, with nodes of coffee that don't taste like they're from coffee so much as they're coffee-like hints you'd pick up from roasted grain. One of the most pleasantly intense bitter aromas I've ever come across.

Tastes like it smells only more variegated. Milk chocolate and light roast coffee up front, dark roasted espresso near the middle, dark chocolate at the back. Intense and wonderful throughout without ever becoming unbalance to too strong.

This is turning out to be the year of the porter for me. On the sweet side is Tributary's otherworldly Porter, and toward the bitter end is Everett. It might not be trendy enough to rank among HF's more desirable beers, but Everett is as good as they come.